We would like to invite you all to come celebrate Riley's return home with us!
When: Saturday, June 18, 2011
Where: Our Home
647 Rogers Ave
West Springfield, MA 01089
Time: 2pm - ??
Food and drinks will be provided and we will have traditional BBQ fare.
Please RSVP if you can to sandra.c.coombs@gmail.com or 413-363-0564 so we are able to get a head count.
We hope to see you all there!
Sandy, Brian, Chase and Riley
Riley MRI
Riley's First Picture
Friday, May 20, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
The End and Also The Beginning
Hi All,
I should start by saying (for those who haven't heard) that we are all home! Riley came home for good on the 7th of May. Here is how our last week went:
Stacy and I continued our sign war and ended up getting very creative.
On Thursday I went to the Center for Families to use the printer to print out a new sign for Stacy's door. While I was down there, a woman who worked there came up and asked if I wanted to go to a Red Sox game. I was a little unsure at first, but she said the game was that day at 1:30 and I could have a few tickets. I accepted the offer and before I knew it Stacy and I were out of the hospital a couple hours later for a re-do of our mommy time. The biggest surprise of the day was yet to come. When we go there we found out that our seats were in the EMC Club. We entered through a restaurant above home plate and had the option of watching the game from the restaurant or from our front row seats. No sooner did we sit down at our seats outside than our waiter came over with menus. We had cushioned seats, heaters above us, a flat screen tv in front of us, private bathrooms and a great view of the game!
The nurses on that day were great and they even sent us pictures of the girls so we wouldn't worry:
Friday came around and it was time for Riley's ECHO. She did awesome! Her heart looked great after being weaned off the sildenafil (for pulmonary hypertension). Dr. Smithers came in to talk to us and asked us when we wanted to go home. It was about 6 at night at that point so we said we would love to go home tomorrow. He gave his blessing and Brian and I went out for a night out before we brought Riley home for good. We had such a great time together going out to eat at Boston Beer Works and then grabbing ice cream at Stone Cold Creamery.
The next morning we went back to the hospital and found Riley sleeping in on her big day!
We were so excited to head out. We got everything packed up and said our goodbye to the nurses and they left a note for us:
We loaded Riley in her car seat and she waved goodbye to all of the new friends we had made in the last 2.5 months. This has truly been such an eye opening experience for us. We would like to thank you all for praying and thinking of us. It has really meant the world. Our little girl is home now and in great shape! All feeds are eaten by mouth and I will be working to switch meds over to mouth as well in the hopes that we can take the tube out at our 1 month appointment. For those of you that haven't heard, I have left my job as VP of Blue Thunder Technologies, for the job of mommy to two perfect kids. I cant wait for the fun times ahead, and to see all of you. Please check back in the next week as I will be posting a date for a Welcome Home Riley party that I would like to invite EVERYONE to. Even if we have not met you before, your thoughts and prayers and support have helped to get us to where we are today!
I should start by saying (for those who haven't heard) that we are all home! Riley came home for good on the 7th of May. Here is how our last week went:
Stacy and I continued our sign war and ended up getting very creative.
On Thursday I went to the Center for Families to use the printer to print out a new sign for Stacy's door. While I was down there, a woman who worked there came up and asked if I wanted to go to a Red Sox game. I was a little unsure at first, but she said the game was that day at 1:30 and I could have a few tickets. I accepted the offer and before I knew it Stacy and I were out of the hospital a couple hours later for a re-do of our mommy time. The biggest surprise of the day was yet to come. When we go there we found out that our seats were in the EMC Club. We entered through a restaurant above home plate and had the option of watching the game from the restaurant or from our front row seats. No sooner did we sit down at our seats outside than our waiter came over with menus. We had cushioned seats, heaters above us, a flat screen tv in front of us, private bathrooms and a great view of the game!
The nurses on that day were great and they even sent us pictures of the girls so we wouldn't worry:
Friday came around and it was time for Riley's ECHO. She did awesome! Her heart looked great after being weaned off the sildenafil (for pulmonary hypertension). Dr. Smithers came in to talk to us and asked us when we wanted to go home. It was about 6 at night at that point so we said we would love to go home tomorrow. He gave his blessing and Brian and I went out for a night out before we brought Riley home for good. We had such a great time together going out to eat at Boston Beer Works and then grabbing ice cream at Stone Cold Creamery.
The next morning we went back to the hospital and found Riley sleeping in on her big day!
We were so excited to head out. We got everything packed up and said our goodbye to the nurses and they left a note for us:
We loaded Riley in her car seat and she waved goodbye to all of the new friends we had made in the last 2.5 months. This has truly been such an eye opening experience for us. We would like to thank you all for praying and thinking of us. It has really meant the world. Our little girl is home now and in great shape! All feeds are eaten by mouth and I will be working to switch meds over to mouth as well in the hopes that we can take the tube out at our 1 month appointment. For those of you that haven't heard, I have left my job as VP of Blue Thunder Technologies, for the job of mommy to two perfect kids. I cant wait for the fun times ahead, and to see all of you. Please check back in the next week as I will be posting a date for a Welcome Home Riley party that I would like to invite EVERYONE to. Even if we have not met you before, your thoughts and prayers and support have helped to get us to where we are today!
With Love,
Brian, Sandy, Chase and Riley
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Mom of the Year
Good Morning,
I hope you all have had a great week; we sure have! Riley has been doing phenomenally since her surgery. She has taken milk via tube and by mouth and has kept her full feeds down. She actually ate a whole ounce by bottle yesterday during a feeding, and then was so tired, that she conked out!
This weekend was great as always. Its so awesome to have Chase and Brian out here to spend time with. Chase is definitely getting used to having Riley as a sister. Whenever anyone says "oh is that your sister?" he puffs out his chest and says "ya ya". He also goes down the family list now:
Chase: doggy?
Me: Maggie is playing outside.
Chase: dada?
Me: Daddy is sleeping.
Chase: Riley?
Me: Riley is sleeping too!
I cant even tell you how awesome the above conversation was to me!
We went for a swallow study yesterday to see if Riley could drink normal milk instead of thickened. She didn't aspirate, but came close, so she is still on thickened.
Our old roommate Avery and her mom Stacy went down to ultrasound yesterday and upon their return, Stacy let me know that the doctor that read the ultrasound had a belt buckle on that said "playboy" complete with the playboy bunny. Seriously? In a Children's Hospital? Well, of course, if you know me, this sparked a night of fun.
It all started when I told Stacy that I was going to put a Playboy Mansion sign on her door. Instead, I walk out of my room where a nurse asks me about my dance moves only to find out that she put a sign on my door saying "I am auditioning for So You Think You Can Dance. Ask me about my cool new dance moves!"
After having a great laugh (and being laughed at by everyone at the nurses station) I decided that we mommies needed a night on the town. I invited Stacy and after making sure we had good nurses for the kids last night, we decided to go down to a bar at Fenway while the game was going on. We joked around with a few nurses because they knew it was our first big night out of the hospital for some down time.
No sooner did we walk the mile, get to a bar, and order a beer, then Riley's nurse called. She had come in to calm Riley down when she was crying and found her soaked. The balloon in her G-tube that holds it in her stomach had burst, and the G-tube came out. The nurses were saying that they hadn't seen anything like it before. They had her stable and were holding a cat in her to keep the hole open and they would be taking her to radiology to check placement of the catheter. Well, we headed back and got to the hospital where Riley and I stayed up till 2 (not exactly the late night I was expecting). She now has a catheter instead of a G-tube that they can put feeds through, and hey are hoping to switch it back to a G-tube by discharge time. Go figure that the one night this happens, I then have to come in and explain to the Dr. on staff that mommy was out having a drink. Regardless of the fact that this was my first night out. Mom of the year material for sure!
Just as an FYI, Stacy now has a sign that says playboy mansion with a picture of a playboy bunny, and I have a new sign with a cartoon strip of a man covered in stubble illustrating different dance moves. The war is on! ;)
Have a great week!
Sent from my iPad
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